U.S. patent number 3,798,892 [Application Number 05/213,459] was granted by the patent office on 1974-03-26 for clock mechanism.
Invention is credited to Victor Lukens.
United States Patent |
3,798,892 |
Lukens |
March 26, 1974 |
CLOCK MECHANISM
Abstract
A clock mechanism in which the hour, minute and second hands are
replaced by rotating differently-colored circles. Three transparent
discs, each having a differently-colored circular filter at a
circumferential position thereof, are rotated within the mechanism
at the respective speeds of hour, minute and second hands. A light
source within the mechanism projects light through the discs
against the housing. The face of the clock is thus illuminated with
"white" light except in three differently-colored circular areas
which rotate around the circumference of the clock face. The
positions of the three circular areas represent the time of day and
as a result of continuously changing overlapping of filters, a
dramatically shifting color pattern is expected.
Inventors: |
Lukens; Victor (New York,
NY) |
Family
ID: |
22795210 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/213,459 |
Filed: |
December 29, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
368/77; 368/234;
968/216 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G04B
19/34 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G04B
19/00 (20060101); G04B 19/34 (20060101); G04b
045/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;58/5R,125B,126A,125C,126E,125R,126R,152R,152F,1R,127R,128
;240/6.43 ;D42/1.3 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
|
|
|
|
321,953 |
|
Jul 1957 |
|
CH |
|
321,954 |
|
Jul 1957 |
|
CH |
|
346,167 |
|
Jun 1960 |
|
CH |
|
Primary Examiner: Wilkinson; Richard B.
Assistant Examiner: Weldon; U.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A clock mechanism comprising a housing having a clock face, a
motor having three shafts for rotating respectively at the speeds
of hour, minute and second hands, means for mounting said motor
within said housing, three differently colored filter, connecting
means connecting said filter means respectively to said three
shafts for rotating the filter means respectively at minute, hour
and second speeds, each of said differently-colored filter means
representing a hand of a clock, said connecting means spacing said
filter means axially from said shafts so that said filter means
appear to be floating and lighting means mounted within said
housing for transmitting light through said three differently
colored filter means to effect a dynamic interaction of colors and
an indication relative to said clock face of the time of day, said
filter means having respective spots positioned to orbit along
aligned paths of at least substantially equal diameters.
2. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of
said filter means and an associated one of said connecting means
constitutes a respective cylindrical means secured at one end to a
respective one of said shafts, said three cylindrical means being
nested within each other and serving to allow the transmission
therethrough of light from said lighting means.
3. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 2 wherein each of
said filter means includes a disc of clear, light-transmitting
material with the spot thereof being constituted by a respectively
colored light-transmitting filter.
4. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 3 wherein each of
said spot is circular in shape.
5. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 2 wherein each of
said filter means is a disc of respectively colored
light-transmitting filter material with the spot thereof being a
cut-out.
6. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 5 wherein each of
said cut-outs is circular in shape.
7. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 2 wherein said
housing is a truncated cylinder supporting said filter means in
parallel and at an angle to the horizontal.
8. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 1 wherein each of
said filter means is a disc.
9. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 1 wherein the filter
means corresponding to the second speed is located between the
filter means corresponding to the hour and minute speeds and said
shafts.
10. A clock mechanism in accordance with claim 1 wherein said
connecting means comprises a frosted plate between the lighting
means and filter means to diffuse said light.
Description
This invention relates to clock mechanisms, and more particularly
to clock mechanisms which exhibit interacting color patterns.
Many prior art clocks and watches have been designed whose faces
produce unusual and interesting optical effects as the hands
rotate. The present invention is of this type.
It is an object of my invention to provide a clock mechanism whose
face exhibits dynamically changing color patterns which in addition
to representing the time of day also produce aesthetically pleasing
shifting colors.
In accordance with the principles of my invention, I provide three
congruent light-transmitting discs on the face of the clock. In one
embodiment of the invention, each of the discs is clear except in a
relatively small circular area near the circumference. The circular
area is colored (e.g., red, yellow or blue) differently on each
disc. The three discs are caused to rotate respectively at the
conventional speeds of minute, hour and second hands of a clock and
a light source is placed within the clock in back of the three
transparent discs. The face of the clock is thus illuminated with
"white" light except in three differently-colored circular areas
which rotate around the circumference of the clock face. The
positions of the three circular areas represent the time of day.
Moreover, as the circular areas pass over each other, additional
colors are produced by intersecting circular areas. For example, in
the case of red, yellow and blue colors, when the yellow and blue
circular areas partly overlap each other, the common area appears
to be green. Similarly, an overlap of the red and yellow circular
areas results in an orange color, and an overlap of the blue and
red circular areas results in a purple color. (A three-way overlap
results in a black appearance.) In another embodiment of the
invention, the three discs are made of respective colored
light-transmitting material, with circular holes being provided for
representing the hands. In such a case, the overall clock face
appears to be black, with different colored circles rotating around
the circumference of the face.
It is a feature of my invention to provide three congruent
light-transmitting discs which rotate at respective speeds of the
minute, hour and seconds hands of a clock, each disc having an
identifiable area thereon serving as one of the hands of the clock,
with a light source being provided in back of the three discs for
transmitting light through the discs to thereby cause the colors of
the "hands" to vary as they move over each other.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will
become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed
description in conjunction with the drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a clock mechanism constructed in
accordance with the principles of the invention;
FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 depict the face of the clock as it represents
three different times of day;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken through the line 5--5 of FIG.
1;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken through the line 6--6 of FIG. 1;
and
FIG. 7 depicts three discs which may be used in another embodiment
of the invention.
Clock 10 of FIG. 1 includes a truncated cylindrical housing 14,
having a slot 16 therein to allow internally generated heat to
escape, a cover face 12 and a base 20. The base includes
projections 20a around the periphery thereof for bearing against a
supporting surface. The projections also provide sufficient
clearance to allow line cord 22 to extend through a hole in the
base, the line cord, when inserted into a wall socket, extending
power to the unit to drive the clock motor. A screw head 18 is also
shown in FIG. 1, the screw serving, as will be described below, to
secure the internal mechanism to housing 14.
FIG. 2 depicts the appearance of the clock face when the "hands" of
the clock represent 12:30:00. Face plate 12 consists of an outer
circular section 12a with a plurality of circular indentations 12b
therein. The indentations may correspond to the conventional hour
markings on a clock, although they may be merely decorative. The
inner circular area 12c of the clock face is made of clear plastic
so that light can be transmitted through it from inside the clock
to an observer looking at the clock face. The area 12c is
illuminated with "white" light except in those areas depicted by
the circles 24, 26 and 28.
The three circles correspond to the three hands of a conventional
clock. Circle 24 (red) is the hour hand, circle 26 (blue) is the
minute hand and circle 28 (yellow) is the second hand. The three
circles have different diameters to heighten the color effects
described herein, although the diameters may also be equal. In the
positions shown in FIG. 2, circle 26 is the only one of the three
which is of a single color (blue). Although circle 24 is red and
circle 28 is yellow, the area 28a which is overlapped by the two
circles appears orange (the result of transmitting ordinary light
through both red and yellow filters).
FIG. 3 depicts the clock hands thirty seconds later, after the
second hand has moved from the top of the clock face to the bottom
of the clock face. At this time all of circle 24 is red, all of
circle 28 is green (the result of transmitting ordinary light
through yellow and blue filters), and that part of circle 26 which
is not overlapped by circle 28 is blue.
As a still further example, FIG. 4 shows the appearance of the
clock face at a time of day corresponding to 3:03:43. The only area
of overlap here is at 24a, which apperas purple (the result of
transmitting ordinary light through red and blue filters). In
general, as the clock "hands" rotate, there is a continuously
changing, aesthetically pleasing color pattern. Since the second
hand (circle 28) moves quite rapidly, a yellow circle appears to go
around the entire clock face once every minute, part or all of the
second-hand circle changing color as it passes under the
minute-hand and hour-hand circles.
FIG. 5 shows a conventional clock mechanism 30 and gear assembly 70
which are secured to truncated cylindrical support 76. The clock
mechanism drives three co-axial shafts 32, 34, 36 in a conventional
manner. Shaft 32 drives the minute "hand," shaft 34 drives the hour
"hand" and shaft 36 drives the second "hand." Each shaft is
attached to a respective one of transparent cylinders 40, 42, 44,
the three cylinders being nested within each other and rotating at
the respective speeds of the clock "hands." At the top of cylinder
44 there is mounted a plastic disc 56 which is clear throughout
except for a circular region 28 which is yellow in color and
functions as a yellow filter. Directly underneath disc 56 there is
mounted a frosted plate 46 which serves to diffuse light
transmitted from bulbs 58 through the transparent cylinders 40, 42,
44. This causes the clock face to be illuminated uniformly. At the
top of cylinder 42 there is mounted another clear plastic disc 54;
however, this clear plastic disc includes a red circular filter 24.
Similarly, at the top of cylinder 44 there is mounted still a third
transparent disc 52 with a blue circular filter 26. It is apparent
that the light from bulbs 58 is transmitted through forsted plate
46 and the transparent cylinders and the transparent discs to
illuminate the face of the clock with "white" light. However, the
projection on the face of the clock through the filters results in
blue, red or yellow circles, which move as the cylinders rotate,
with the colors changing as the filters pass over one another.
A supporting plate 74 is mounted on cylindrical support 76, and
three bulb-containing sockets are secured to the top of the base.
The three sockets are connected in series and wires 64a, 64b from
the sockets are connected by connectors 68 to the wires 62a, 62b in
the line cord. The motor wires 66a, 66b are similarly connected to
the wires in the line cord by connectors 68. Support 76 has a hole
76a through which the line cord passes, as base 20 contains a hole
20c for the same purpose.
Manual control knob 72, to which access can be gained through a
hole 20b in the base, serves to adjust the hands in a conventional
manner by turning the gears within gear assembly 70.
Housing 76 is secured within housing 14 by means of screw 18 and
wing nut 78, as shown most clearly in FIG. 6. A spacer 80 is
mounted between the two housings, the shaft of the screw extending
through the two housings and the spacer.
FIG. 7 depicts three alternative discs 90, 92, 94 which can be used
instead of discs 52, 54, 56. In the embodiment of the invention
depicted in FIG. 7, the discs are colored except for respective
cut-outs through which light can be transmitted without any
filtering effect. If the discs of FIG. 7 are used, for the most
part the face of the clock will appear to be black since most of
the face of the clock is illuminated by light transmitted through
all three filters. Colored (non-black) circles appear on the face
of the clock directly above any cut-out or combinations of
overlapping cut-outs.
Although the invention has been described with reference to
particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these
embodiments are merely illustrative of the application of the
principles of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made
therein and other arrangements may be devised without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *